


Let Sleeping Angels Lie (Just Not at the Kitchen Table)

by kurthummeldeservesbetter



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/M, Finn is a good bro, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kurt is tired, Set in Dalton Era, brotherly furt - Freeform, finn is kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27904759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurthummeldeservesbetter/pseuds/kurthummeldeservesbetter
Summary: Some of ND gather at the Hummel-Hudson home on the first night of their winter break, to have a peaceful and fun time (for once) and catch up with Kurt. Sadly, their resident countertenor is caught up in some last-minute essay writing, and can’t join them at the start. Though, he ends up being the biggest distraction of the night anyways. Cross-Posted from Tumblr.
Relationships: Artie Abrams/Brittany S. Pierce, Mike Chang/Tina Cohen-Chang, Sam Evans/Quinn Fabray
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Let Sleeping Angels Lie (Just Not at the Kitchen Table)

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the Dalton Era. I wanted more brotherly Furt, and also some retrospective of some of the characters. Its short but simple.

“You sure you don’t want to join us now, dude?” Finn asked, leaning over Kurt’s slumped form, scattered notebooks taking up the table. Kurt’s laptop was open to the word document, and Finn could tell it was already pretty long. “You can always finish the essay tomorrow. Or maybe someone could keep you company while you finish?” Finn already knew that Mercedes, Tina and Quinn all offered to hang with him, and had been dismissed, but Finn thought he’d try as well.

He had been hoping Kurt would wait to finish his work, but Finn knew that the Dalton course load was much heavier than McKinley’s, and acknowledging that made him feel guilty. It was already a pretty sucky Christmas so far, and he’d rather focus on the happier things with his new family, and not the stresses of being cheated on (again) thus having to break up with his girlfriend, and a brother having to go to a different school because of bullying.

He _definitely_ didn’t want to think about how one of those could have been prevented had he just been more of a man.

“I’ll be okay.” Kurt looked up at him and smiled, a bit tired, his eyes a little glassy, the same kind Finn got if he played video games too long. His smile still looked real though, not one of those fake _I’m-not-actually-okay_ smiles Finn had learned to identify. “I have about three pages left. I don’t want to have to work on this when we go to your mom’s cabin in a few days.” Kurt turned back, gesturing to his scattred drafts and textbooks. “I’ll probably be down right after you finish the first movie.”

“Alright, man,” Finn smiled, and ruffled Kurt’s hair, grinning wider when all he got was a huff. “We’ll wait till you’re done to watch Elf. I know it’s your favorite.” 

Kurt, who was already back into his furried typing, responded with a thumbs-up, leaving Finn to go back into the den, a feeling a little lighter than before.

\------

“So, what are we watching first?” Mike asked, arm draped around Tina, feet propped up on the footstool Sam was leaning against, Quinn cuddled next to him in a mirrored version of the couple’ above them. Finn glanced at the blond couple, a twinge of jealousy in his veins, before turning back to the DVD player, where Puck was sorting through them. “Die Hard?”

“Nah man,” Sam said, sitting up straighter. “We have to watch a classic first. Like Rudolph!” Quinn nodded beside him, smiling softly. 

“Rudolph is an example of how you are only treated well by society if you are useful to powerful people,” Brittany added, perched on Artie’s lap in the recliner. The room went awkwardly quiet (as it usually did when Brittany added something she was thinking to the conversation) and thankfully it was short, as Artie pulled out his phone, tossing it to Finn. 

“I planned out a whole system,” He explained, as Finn scrolled through the notes, Puck abandoning the mess of DVDs to settle himself beside Mike, ignoring the glare it got him for interrupting his cuddles with Tina. “We do the animated classics first, then the live action classics, then the big ones, like _Elf_ and Die Hard.” 

“How long do you expect us to be here, Artie?” Mercedes asked, calculating the running times in her head. “I mean, I know we’re all sleeping over, but are we spending the whole time watching movies?” She asked, sharing a glance with Santana, as they sprawled out on the loveseat. 

“Well we’re all eating breakfast together tomorrow,” Artie defended. “Plus it’s not like most of us won’t fall asleep at some point in the night. It’ll be fine.”

Finn let them debate as he popped in the DVD, standing to full stretch up and take the other recliner, making sure to grab all the proper remotes before he would settle. 

“Let’s just get started,” Finn finally said, interrupting the growing debate of proper scheduling that was going on between Mercedes and Artie. “Kurt said he’d be out probably when we finished the first movie, so we should probably make sure we’ve actually _watched_ a movie.”

With that, the room went quiet (whether it was the mention of their friend who hadn’t yet joined them for the movie night, or the beginning credits filling the screen, Finn didn’t know) and every fell into a more comfortable silence, the stop-motion animation taking them away. 

Finn was just grateful no one had mentioned Rachel’s absence. 

\-----

“I can’t believe it,” Quinn whispered, quietly pulling a chair to sit next to Kurt, Mercedes having done the same on his other side. “He looks like an angel.” She leant forward, carefully and delicately brushing his hair off his forehead. His head was pillowed on his arms, laptop left open in front of him. His cheeks were a bright pink, contrasting against porcelain skin, and his hair felt so soft under her touch. 

Mercedes had a soft look on her face, matching ones plastered onto Tina’s and Brittany’s, who were sharing a chair opposite Kurt, staring softly at the sleeping teen. Even Santana was gazing at their friend in a look of content, though Quinn knew she’d deny it if it was called out. Sensing she was being judged, Santana leant to pull the laptop away, glancing over the document almost awkwardly, as if she knew Quinn had been observing her moment of softness.

“Looks like he finished it,” Santana muttered, saving the document and closing the laptop, setting it back on the table gently. “Thing was twenty pages long.”

“I read a book that long last week,” Brittany whispered, her phone out as she snapped a photo of the sleeping Kurt. “It was about Santa.”

“He looks so peaceful,” Tina said, ignoring Brittany’s statement. “Like a little doll.”

“I miss him,” Mercedes added. She kissed Kurt’s forehead, smiling when he seemed to relax more. “I just wish we could have done something more.” Sensing the tension she had created, Mercedes smiled, and changed the subject quickly. “This is probably the most peaceful sleep I’ve seen him in though,” she whispered, a laugh in her voice. “I always take the couch when I sleep over. He kicks and sleep talks like nobody’s business.”

“He woke me up with all his talking once,” Tina added. “None of it made sense. He was saying something about space and giraffes. I had no idea what it meant.”

“He called me once,” Quinn said, still playing with Kurt’s hair. “It was like three am. He told me I was very pretty, that I sounded like a bell and he loved me. Then he told me to enjoy my trip to mars and to make sure to bring him back mars coffee, whatever that is.”

“I like sleepovers with Kurt,” Brittany smiled. “Even though he won’t kiss me anymore. He’s my favorite ex-boyfriend. He also does the best boy-kisses.” Frowning, she glanced up at the rest of the girls. “Don’t tell Artie. He’s second best at boy-kisses. I don’t want him jealous.”

Before anyone else could add anything (and from the look on Santana’s face, she was definitely planning on lying about her promise to keep Brittany’s confession a secret) Artie’s voice cut through the low quiet of the room, causing Kurt to stir a bit, before he settled back down, undisturbed.

\------

Artie frowned, looking from the digital clock under the tv to the doorway, even checking his watch for dramatic effect. It had been a good fifteen minutes since Mercedes had gone in to get a drink and to check on Kurt (who was knee-deep in last-minute homework from Dalton, and _not_ enjoying the company of his friends like he should be) with Tina following after. After five minutes of them being gone, Quinn had gone up to go to the bathroom, with Santana and Brittany following suit.

Now there were no girls, and he was getting frustrated. They had fully planned out their movie schedule! They needed to finish the classics, having finished _Santa Claus is Coming to Town,_ now on _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,_ before hitting the real ones, like _Die Hard!_ Artie hadn’t even minded moving Elf around on the schedule since Finn had said Kurt loved it. 

Most likely (though he couldn’t hear any loud talking, just quiet whispered from the dining room) Kurt had roped the girls into staying in the room with him, rather than out watching movies with all the rest of them.

“Kurt!” he shouted, starting a dozing Mike on the couch, who in turn elbowed Puck, who was (though he wouldn’t admit to it) invested in the movie. As the mohawked boy muttered a small string of muttered curses, Artie leaned his neck back to shout into the dining room, unable to see what was going on from his position. “Quit hogging the girls and get out here!”

“Yeah man,” Sam added, cupping his mouth for more emphasis than needed, considering Kurt was just outside the den, “Come hang out! You can finish your homework tomorrow!” It was possible to note that Sam was also annoyed his girlfriend, who he had been cuddling with, had abandoned him for Kurt.

Simultaneously, Tina and Quinn stuck their head through the doorway, their eyebrows furrowed in anger. The pair shushed the room, a bit forceful, then tucked their heads back into the dining room, leaving the boys more confused than they had been before.

“Um...what?” Sam called back, standing up to stretch out the kinks in his joints, sauntering over to the doorway to peer back into the dining room, Mike joining him. Both boys muttered a simultaneous _“oh”_ and Artie was even more confused, sharing a look with Puck and Finn, both of whom stood as well to join the other teens in the doorway.

“What’s going on,” Artie asked, straining his neck to try and look around Finn-the monolith of a boy-and grew even more confused when Puck began to laugh, stopping when a hand-probably Santana’s, leaned back into the room to smack him on the head.

“We said shut-it, boys,” her hissed voice confirmed Artie’s guess. 

“Is no one going to explain-” Artie began, stopping when Santana turned, her head poking into the room, to glare at him.

“Kurt’s dead asleep. Don’t disturb, idiots.” With that, she turned back into the room, making sure her hair hit the boys as she moved.

“He really asleep?” Artie asked, watching Sam, Finn and Mike step into the dining room, Puck staying behind. He didn’t ask about the odd look on Puck’s face.

“Yeah, little dude is knocked out. Looks like one of those precious moments figurines.”

“Guess that’s where Coach Sylvester’s nickname for him comes from.” Artie said, turning back to the paused TV.

“Well,” Puck began, shrugging as he sauntered back to his spot on the couch, taking advantage of the empty space. “So much for Kurt joining us tonight.” Artie frowned, noting the mohawked-teens attempt at trying to seem indifferent. He wasn’t going to even think about mentioning Beth, even though he knew that was most likely making Puck uncomfortable. 

He didn’t like it either.

They all missed Kurt.

\---------

“He is _out_ , dude,” Mike whispered to Sam, leaning against the doorframe. “I’ve never seen someone pass out like that and it not be from an injury.”

“My little brother and sister can sleep like that,” Sam replied, watching as the girls cleaned up the cluttered table as quietly as possible, careful to not disturb the sleeping teen. “It’s amazing. It’s like a superpower.”

The pair watched as Quinn and Mercedes quietly put back their chairs, Quinn careful to properly fold Kurt’s Dalton blazer over her arm, the tie over her shoulder. Finn, without saying anything, leant over his step-brother’s sleeping form, carefully placing an arm under Kurt’s knee, the other around his back. Quinn moving quickly to carefully adjust his head against Finn’s shoulder. 

“I’ve got him,” Finn whispered, adjusting Kurt to carry him better. “Can one of you go open the door to his room?” 

Mercedes nodded, moving past him and up the stairs, Finn stepping behind her, Quinn carefully stepping behind him, like a train of ducklings.

The trio (or quadruple) made their way up to Kurt’s room, Mercedes quietly opening up the door and flicking on the desk lamp, illuminating the room in a quiet glow. Finn settled Kurt on the bed just after Quinn pulled back the covers, thankful that Kurt had removed his shoes before he had fallen asleep. 

Quinn, in a motion that seemed just to practiced (and a bit sad) had the covers pulled over her friend. The trio then stood, watching as Kurt settled into the bed, looking even more content than before. 

“He’s going to be so embarrassed in the morning,” Mercedes whispered, hand on the doorframe. “He doesn’t like people seeing him like that.”

“He needed the sleep,” Quinn replied, with one last kiss to Kurt’s forehead. “He’ll get over it. We all know how tough Dalton’s been on him.” She did take in Mercedes’ sad demeanor, and held out an arm, leading the other girl out of the room. “Let’s leave him to sleep. Maybe he’ll get out all his sleep-talking before we come back up here to sleep on his couch.” They nodded at Finn as they left, Quinn even using her soft smile that still made him feel warm even after all she had done to him.

Thus, Finn was left alone to stand and watch the rise of Kurt’s chest. Kurt did look peaceful, but way too young with his pink-red baby-fat cheeks, his haircut and style from that day really playing into the school-boy look Santana had commented on earlier that afternoon. It made Finn feel bad again, especially as he his eyes glanced over to his desk chair, where Quinn had laid Kurt’s blazer and tie.

The Dalton crest was almost glaring back at him, almost saying _‘you could have stopped this, you know”_ giving him that same guilty feeling he had earlier that evening. With one last look at Kurt, he closed the door, and swore to himself that the new year would be different.

He would find a way to get his brother back where he belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kurthummeldeservesbetter


End file.
